Nationally recognized choreographer, performance
and video artist Charles Dennis shows new video and "The Wizard of Iz" (2008), an innovative, dance/performance/video work at Monkeytown in Williamsburg Thursday April 9. $5 door, $10 minimum, food and drink available.

Charles Dennis explores the concept and magic of live filmmaking in "The Wizard of Iz": he multi-tasks all the roles in film production - he is an actor, a dancer, a video cameraman/editor and a vj (video jockey). He uses a laptop computer,
video cameras and quad screen projection to create an immersive, psychedelic video environment.
A clip from the tornado sequence from the “The Wizard of Oz” serves as a dramatic point of departure as Dennis performs both for
and with the screen. Joined by guitarist/sound designer Mitch Greenhill, who mixes live guitar and world music loops, Dennis controls
and mixes kaleidoscopic video projections onstage from his laptop computer. He is a Wizard who transforms himself into archetypal
characters such as Dinosaur, Cowboy, Spaceman and Disaster Man through the magic of costume changes and video mixing. As vj
Dennis layers and mixes video from a collection of clips that includes both clips that Dennis shot as well as clips that he assembled and
edited from feature films including “Jurassic Park”, “Gangsters of the Frontier” (a 1940’s b & w western), “Apollo 11” and “The Day After”.
As Charles performs he becomes a live element in a cinematic experience. "The Wizard of Iz" is a romp through a magical video universe where dynamic dance is joined with state of the art digital video wizardry.